The Philippine Statistics Authority announced on Wednesday that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7% in September 2024, down from 4.5% a year earlier and 4.0% in August 2024.
In terms of numbers, the number of unemployed individuals in September 2024 was 1.89 million, a decrease from 2.26 million in September 2023 and 2.07 million last month.
Meanwhile, the employment rate in September 2024 rose to 96.3%, up from 95.5% a year ago and 96.0% the previous month. The total number of employed persons reached 49.87 million, an increase from 47.67 million in September 2023 and 49.15 million in August 2024.
The labor force participation rate stood at 65.7%, higher than the 64.1% in September 2023 and 64.8% in August 2024. This equated to 51.77 million Filipinos aged 15 and over in the labor force, compared to 49.93 million in September 2023 and 51.22 million in August 2024.
On average, employed persons worked 40.3 hours per week, slightly down from 40.8 hours in September 2023 and 40.7 hours in August 2024.
The underemployment rate rose to 11.9%, from 10.7% in September 2023 and 11.2% in August 2024. A total of 5.94 million employed persons sought more hours or additional jobs.